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The Best Electric Guitar Straps: 3 Pro Selection Tips

The Best Electric Guitar Straps: 3 Pro Selection Tips

At Italia Leather Straps, a large portion of our customers come to our online store shopping for an electric guitar strap. Seasoned pros, hobbyists and beginners alike all need one but often the dilemma arises as to what’s the best electric guitar strap for a given situation. The fact is, it totally depends on you and your guitar. In fact, if you have more than one electric guitar you may need different straps to suit them depending on the characteristics of the instrument. It can be confusing, but our staff has put together the following tips that can help you make a solid choice on the best guitar strap.

 

Tip #1: Length Depends On Your Height and Playing Style
How tall are you? Its basic, but important. If you are below six feet tall, chances are you will fit in the range of our standard length strap just fine. Are you over six feet tall? Or do you like to play your guitar low near your waist? In that case, think about going with a long model strap. This will give you additional flexibility to dial-in your strap length adjustment. It may also avoid having to set the strap at the very last loop or “maxed out”.

Tip #2: Is Your Guitar Heavy Or Light?
Weight is another basic but important factor to consider. Do you have a heavy guitar or a light guitar?
If you tend to play “Strat Style” solid body electric guitars odds are the weight of your guitar is probably not overwhelming. In this case your choice should be a 2.5 inch wide strap since you don’t really need the additional width to distribute weight.

On the other hand, if you play a guitar like a Les Paul (or similar), you may know what it’s like to have a really heavy guitar! Other types of guitars can be very heavy too depending on the type of wood used. Some guitars can even have two necks which can really add to overall weight. As a general rule, if you feel any fatigue from the weight of your guitar after playing an appreciable amount of time, go with a 4-inch wide strap. Simply put, we think the 4” width is the best guitar strap for a heavy guitar. Your back and shoulders will thank you for many years to come.

Tip #3: Is Your Guitar Balanced Or Does It Have “Guitar Strap Neck Dive”?
Many electric guitars, especially older vintage instruments can be quite unbalanced. This is the dreaded condition guitarists call “neck dive”.  It’s the tendency of the neck of an unbalanced instrument to drop towards the floor if not restrained.  It can be very troublesome, but the proper strap can be a fix for neck dive. As a counter to guitar strap neck dive we recommend a 4-inch wide strap to better hold the instrument in place. The added friction of the wider strap is key to keeping the neck in an upright and playable position. Additionally, the suede backing on the interior of an Italia Leather Strap does an excellent job of keeping the guitar in place, further preventing neck dive. If your electric guitar has neck dive, we do not recommend a strap with a slick or smooth interior.

Thanks and Happy Playing!

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